I brag my doctor up a lot, I know. Some of you probably get bored of it. Thats cool. You just don’t get it. She’s the best.

My 20 week appointment was this afternoon. I was weighed first, where I learned that I’ve only gained 4 lbs so far! Thats pretty great for me, since I’ve usually gained ten by now, but I’m also starting higher than I did the last two times, so I’m happy. My doctor was beautifully on time. Pretty close anyway. Dekker had set up his chair in our exam room, and was playing with his trucks and eating his snacks off of the little table the pull out at the end of the bed. Not the most delicious or sanitary place to play, but its not like he was licking the stirrups or anything so I let it go. We talked about the few changes I’d had since my last appointment. I’ve started taking Zantac every night for my acid reflux, my pelvis and hips are just starting to slip out now, and I can finally feel the baby move! Other than that, there hasn’t been any big news. No recent fainting or bailing down the stairs, thankfully.

I was pleasantly surprised at the kids. Laela hardly made sound, minus showing off her newfound “L” sound, and Dekker was totally comfortable! He talked to Dr. Guselle and answered some questions. She commented that his hair was so long, and when I said that we really should cut it, she replied “No! Its so beautiful!” I agree. When it was time to check my tummy and heartbeat, he wanted in. He and the doctor talked about the measuring tape, and how mommy was at 24! We laughed and talked about my massive children. Then she invited Dekker to come help with the doppler and he climbed right up next to her and helped squeeze the ultrasound gel onto my tummy. She found the heartbeat right away and we talked to Dekker about what the sound was. I told him “Thats baby Jim’s heartbeat!” Dr. Guselle seemed a bit confused and asked how we knew the baby was boy if our scan was tomorrow, so we kind of joked and told her that Dekker was insistent that the baby was a girl, but he named her Jim.

As I was getting up, she asked if I was feeling anxious or content at the idea of labor, being that we’re halfway through now, so we talked a bit about that and what my specific hang ups are. I assured her I wasn’t losing sleep over anything at this point, but there were some details that I feel like, no matter what, they won’t go well. We agreed not to delve too deep into it just yet, but wait a few more appointments and go from there. She mentioned again that if I’m feeling incredibly anxious, that can help us make decisions too. I told her that I didn’t want something like that to make my decisions for me, and I should be able to just curb that, and she kind of tilted her head and said “Well, those feelings are really important, so we’ll just wait and see, ok?” I love her.

I felt so light after my appointment with her. The kids had been great, we had all just sat and visited for a good few minutes after everything was checked and done, and she is just always so encouraging. You know those few doctors in the world that never make you feel rushed? That always listen to every possible thing you have to say, and answer every single question? There aren’t many like her. I’ll see her again in a month, and I always anticipate the visit.

After this appointment today, I am even more eager to get myself to that ultrasound tomorrow!!! Although the gross realization of a 9:30am scan is that I have to have drank a litre of water before 8:30am. I’m not usually out of bed by then!!! Gross. Double gross.

Baby’s worth it.

Before I actually talk about what I’m going to talk about today, I have two quick little notes!

One is a merp merp for only getting FOUR guesses on baby Jim’s gender yesterday!! C’mon, more of you have to have a guess in there somewhere! Anyone else?? Of the four, we have one guess for a boy, and three for a girl. You’re on your own so far, Jerilee!

My second side note is that I fully neglected to say anything about my husbands birthday yesterday!!! Actually, both of our birthdays were yesterday! Not actually, but I hate that I’m older than him, so for those 2.5 months, I lie, and we magically age on the same day. We are now both officially 26! No big party for him, considering we had enough party last week, but we still celebrate and love our Brady very, very much.

The rest of this post will be about a savings plan we’ve implemented this year. I’m not sure what the official name for it is, but the idea behind it is that there are 52 weeks in a year, and to save some money each week. First week of the year, save one dollar. Twentieth week, save twenty. And so on. At first, I wasn’t pumped about this plan. Its supposed to yield roughly $1350 by the end of the year, and while thats great, its not like a HUGE number. You can’t upgrade your car for that much. You can’t pay off a big debt with that. Its not that impressive. Another “flaw” was that the biggest money weeks are right around Christmas. Don’t we all feel broke enough around Christmas anyway??

Boom. It hit me then that we could change the plan to make it work for us. So Brady and I decided to buckle down and consistently save money each week. We went backwards and started with the big weeks. We had a really lame financial time in the first few months of the year, but we diligently pulled cash out and saved it in our undisclosed location 😉 We planned ahead , and once the number reached $17 aka 17 weeks left in the year, we stayed with that number and have been putting in $17 (but actually $20) each Friday. That way, we will have completed the entire year of saving by the end of November. Just a couple more twenty dollar bills, and we are DONE! Best of all, we decided early on in the year that this money would be our Christmas/holiday money, which I plan to need sooner than later! That will include gifts, any seasonal treats like flavored coffees or candies, Christmas oranges, decor, events and outings, gas for any trips we’ll take, and the makings of a potential Christmas dinner we may or may not try to make! I sincerely hope we’ll come in under the amount of money we saved, but if anything unexpected comes up, we’ll be ready. I have to say, this one jar of saved money gives me a great feeling of financial security this year! I love that, even if work slows down, we will be able to have Christmas without too much stress over money.

Is it weird to talk about money? Maybe. Sorry if people feel weird :/ I just really love this plan, and I recommend that everyone does it! Who wants in for next year? I might actually make a reminder next year, every friday in the post, for people who want to do this. We are DEFINITELY doing it again!

** Pssst! Guess what our baby is, mmmkay?

Part of me is nervous to get too revved up about my ultrasound this week, since you never know if you’ll be able to see the gender or not. BUT I’m deciding to be optimistic and just hope for the best! I’m past the 20 week mark already so here’s hoping!

*Before I get too far into this, I’m implementing the Bambi law once again. If you can’t say anything nice, please don’t say anything at all. I have full respect for people who don’t want to find out, and all the wonderful surprise that comes with that, but its our decision as a family and we hope to find out. To each their own. Not something to get too riled up about.

So! I have no idea how to write a comparison post about three different things. That being said. It will probably jumble pretty bad, but I’ll do my best. I know I’m also only halfway through this one and all kinds of things could still change, but I’m going for it anyway.

At this point in my previous pregnancies, I had gained ten pounds. I have gained maaaybe five this time.

With the first two, baby was easy to find on the doppler very early. This time, baby is still hard to find, tucked waaay back in there, making it almost not register on the doppler.

According to early ultrasounds, D & L measured exactly to their due dates, if not a day or two bigger. J measured a solid few days small.

Dekker: no morning sickness
Laela: very nauseous until about 15 weeks
Jim: middle of the road nausea until about 12 weeks

Dekker: no boob pain
Laela: boob pain before I knew I was pregnant, held on for a week or two
Jim: boob pain for the last two months with no sign of stopping (living in sports bras)

Dekker: noticeable bump
Laela: not a blessed thing
Jim: finally starting to show, but mostly just looking like I ate two lunches

I have had acid reflux with each pregnancy, just starting earlier and earlier with each baby.

I had no pelvic/pubic pain with Dekker, lots with Laela starting this early, and none so far. I know there is still time for that to start, but if it didn’t start with all the walking we did in Vegas, I’m thinking I have a bit more time.

Felt movement with Dekker around 19 weeks, with Laela around 16 weeks, and with Jim around 18 weeks.

With Dekker and Laela’s pregnancies, I got beautiful skin, hair, and nails. This time around, I have chunks of dry skin all over my face, and where its not dry, it is pimple-ridden like that of a fourteen year old boy.

This is all a bit confusing, and maybe over-sharing on some levels, haha! I swore I would know exactly what I was having this time, but it seems like Dekker and Laela were very opposite extremes, and this baby is hanging out in the middle. Haha! Pun. I want to add one more weirdo detail to the mix before you consider the whole pictures.

On my moms side of the family, the order of cousins went boy, boy, boy, girl, girl, and so on. So far, all the grandkids on that side of the family have matched that line, Laela being the first girl. So following history, Jim should be a girl. Also, in my family of siblings, my mom had my brother, sister, and then me. I had Dekker, Laela, and now Jim. My mom said her pregnancy with my brother was very easy, and then her pregnancy with my sister was much harder. Her third pregnancy was so much easier than her second that she was sure I was going to be a boy, but fun surprise!, I’m a girl. So thats an argument specifically for girl too. Lastly, speaking of family, Dekker is dead set on baby Jim being a girl. He has requested we name the baby either mommy or grandma.

So I’m curious what you all think! I’d love any random opinions you have, as many as I can get! Our scan is on Friday, and I’m really hoping we can see whats going on in there! Of course, above all, we want to see a steady heartbeat coming from a healthy little (or big, let’s be honest) baby. But this is a really fun part for us 🙂 This is the part when I start feeling considerably more connected to my baby. When I can say he or she instead of it. I know some people think the nicknaming thing we do is lame but it is our last ditch effort not to call the baby it. (Bonus points for anyone who remembers Dekker and Laelas nicknames!) Anyway, throw out your guess! Laela was too shy to show us her gender at 20 weeks, so she was “orange” until we got a 3D scan and found out. Let’s hope Jim is a bit more of a showboat. In the womb, anyway!!!

Wager a guess!

** OOPS! Forgot to add heart rates in here! Dekkers never exceeded 160, and Laela and Jim both easily went over 170.

Today over supper, we asked the kids what they were thankful for. I just thought their responses were adorable enough to share with you guys. Dekker said he was thankful for mommy, salad, and mustard. When we asked Laela, she just said “Oooooh baby!” So I’m taking that to mean she’s thankful that there’s another baby on the way? Yes, thats about right.

We had a pretty relaxed day today, again. The little lady crawled so much that she got rug burn all over her little feet!!

We spent most of the morning downstairs, then had an early lunch so we could go play outside before lunch. Laela played on the deck and posed as the little Gap model that she is while Dekker and Brady took off somewhere with the wagon. We never see much of the boys when we got play outside. I actually love that. They love each other.

When we got back in, the kids went down for a nap and Brady tilled the garden, which is the final step for our yard being ready for winter. Ugh. I’m not looking forward to winter. BUT I’ve decided to anticipate it happily as “mukluk months” rather than winter. Positivity, right?

We had a plethora of leftovers for supper this evening, and didn’t accomplish much this evening. I finally put the laundry away from washing it all on Saturday, but thats it!

Dekker went down really hard. I HATE disciplining him before bedtime, but I hate more the thought of always letting things slide at the same time. Doesn’t that set us up for a disaster every single day?? Anyway, going down was rough but its done, and I’m so ready for my bath.

Fun side note, though! As my acid reflux gurgles up in my throat, I’m reminded that I have a very important ultrasound this week!! Just for kicks, I thought it would be fun to give some details and see what people’s guesses are, like we did with Laela. Almost everyone voted “girl” for her, since my pregnancy was so different from Dekkers. I was positive I’d know immediately this time around because of it, but I have NO clue!!! I’m so curious to see, so lets all root for a cooperative baby! Maybe I’ll make that tomorrows post. I’m already looking forward to it 🙂

Since the holiday weekend is officially coming to a close, I wish you all the happiest of thankful evenings 🙂 Sleep deep!

My parents aren’t around right now, and we often spend holidays with them, so it was a change for us to be on our own for Thanksgiving. Don’t feel bad for us, we were completely happy to have a comfy day at home with the kids. Brady had agreed to drum in church this morning, but the kids and I hung back at home.

When I went in to get them this morning, Laela was wailing her head off and somehow, Dekker was fast asleep. So I plucked Laela from her crib and quietly backed out of the room. She and I proceeded to get some breakfast together and play at the table for a while, just the two of us. But when she was mostly finished eating, she flipped her plate over and drummed whole heartedly on the back of it. It was very soon afterwards that Dekker woke. He was still groggy, but cooperated very well with his diaper change and headed out to the dining room for breakfast.

Both kids ate well and played well together. Dekker was quite whiny waiting for Brady to get back, but he’s still adjusting to us being home and I think he didn’t appreciate Bradys absence. Its good though, since work starts back up this week and Brady will be gone in the daytime again. It was a nice trial run.

If you don’t know, I’ve been craving really good asian food for about two months, and have yet to get my hands on any, much less my teeth. Brady and I had decided that he would go pick some up after church and bring it home for lunch. However, I discovered that our cafe in town serves Chinese food! I was really excited, and actually texted him this info while he was in church. We were both pumped, so he came straight home after church, only to discover that he internet lies and they are not in fact open on Sundays and holidays.

I went into full selfish mode. I had been sooo excited to finally have this ridiculous craving satisfied, and then there was no way to make it happen, that I couldn’t think of anything else I could possibly want. I started to feel legitimately nauseous and couldn’t fathom another thing I could possibly eat. Maaaybe seafood, which also doesn’t exist here. I whined about food until about 2:00pm, when I gave up and made myself a salad. I didn’t feel any better afterwards, but I knew the longer I waited to eat, the worse I would feel. So I just had lettuce with cheese shredded overtop, sunflower seeds, and my honey mustard dressing I make. It was yummy, but it wasn’t asian food. Maybe tomorrow.

Its pretty silly to be so devastated over something so trivial hey? Especially on thanksgiving!! Hahaha! I mean, we should always be thankful, regardless of the day, but it just seemed extra childish today.

So. To be thankful. I feel like people already know what I’m thankful for. The obvious ones: my hilariously beautiful children, and the husband that helped me build the. The roof over our heads. Our vehicle that runs. Safe water from our taps, and when thats not available, our kick-ass water cooler. We have everything we need. Here are some less obvious but VERY important things I’m thankful for.

Fetal movement. I am SO thankful that I can feel the baby move more often these days. It feels like its taken so long to get here, and I can still rarely feel movement outside of my belly, but I can be confident that my baby is active and growing. Thank you Lord!

Moving potential. We have been trying to move for a few years now, unbeknownst to most of you guys. For a number of reasons, we’ve had to stay put, and learn a BIG lesson about waiting and patience. However, it is looking like this next year could very well be our year to move. We are optimistic that next spring will our turn!

Friends. We are blessed with a fabulous support system all around us, but I am EXTRA thankful for the ever-beautiful Jerilee who lived in our house for most of a week so Brady and I could escape kid-free and refresh together. What an unbelievable gift that was!!!

Lastly, and you may find this a bit silly, but I am thankful for other peoples baby success! I wrote a while back about a YouTube couple that I watch, who had recently found out they were pregnant with their second, completely by surprise. Yet, her doctor was very convinced she would miscarry. I’m am THRILLED that the ultrasound showed a heartbeat, a healthy-looking pregnancy, and a reason for her spotting. God is GREAT!

Thats all I’ve got for you today. I’m very thankful I have the readers I have, because I doubt I’d still be blogging if no one was reading. Somehow that helps 🙂 Thanks guys. Talk tomorrow!

We took a home day today. It was exactly what we all needed. Aaall of us.

I wrote on Facebook last night that we completely forgot to feed Laela her nighttime bottle! She has a bottle around 5:00 each evening before supper, then eats some supper with us, and then she gets a top up right before she goes to bed. We got home from the airport last night around 9:00 and put both kids to bed. Didn’t even think about it until the kids were long asleep. Brady and I decided to let it go, expect a very early wake up, and we would just nap in the afternoon. BUT Laela slept until 8:00am and then she and Dekker played their hearts out for a good half hour! Best kids ever.

We spent the morning in jammies, playing amongst the crazy mess of the basement. Laela was super unconcerned about missing her bottle, and refused to drink more than four ounces. She obviously has decided she’s a grown up. For lunch, Brady made us a batch of pancakes, which is a HUGE win with the entire family. Turns out we doddled our way through lunch because right after pancakes, it was nap time!

Dekker was sad to go down for his nap but Laela didn’t move from the spot we lay her down in for a solid two hours. Brady and I tidied up the basement for the first time in forever before going upstairs to watch some Netflix in bed. Eventually, Dekker woke Laela, and Brady went to get them up while I dozed a little. I woke up about a half hour later to screams. I went to check them out, and was met with my husband and my two sopping wet, joyfully squealing, freshly bathed children. Am I spoiled or what?! I got to see a video of all the fun they had in the tub, and how little distress there had been. It was an incredibly way to wake up.

We had a supper of fish and potatoes, which always goes over well. I love that Laela can really eat most everything we eat. Teeny little bites still, but she loves it too. We brought the littles downstairs right after supper and watched Dekker do laps and Laela crawl after him for the next hour and a half. Dekker was pretty sad to go upstairs for bed but we made it fun and they actually went down surprisingly smoothly. It was a weird switch for us about a year back, when Dekker went from LOVING bedtime to hating it with a passion. But I guess being sad at bedtime is normal, right? It went really nicely today though, with lots of hugs and kisses and considerably fewer tears than usual.

Now, as per usual, a tub is run, and I am anticipating some relaxation and snacks. But first! We must take advantage of Old Navys wicked sales and get the kids some jammies. Laela got her first pants and shirt set (rather than a sleeper) the other day and it is sooo adorable! Plus, with her pulling up and shuffling around the furniture, the feet don’t get in the way. Sooo online shopping we go!

We have returned home, and what a wonderful place to be it is! I’m gonna say right now that I’m not putting up any pictures tonight, because I don’t want to. I want to soak in my tub and eat a late supper. And then sleep in my bed. But first! I’ll fill you in on our last day in the lovely Las Vegas.

We never slept in much, since the general hubbub woke us earlier, so we got our regular breakfast sandwiches (I will miss those) and coffee and ate breakfast in bed while we watched some tv and got up slowly. We had sort of decided in advance to relax in the morning, and find our way to the airport after that. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 3:00, and check out was 11:00, so it didn’t leave tons of playtime in the middle anyway. We left our room for the last time and went down to the front desk to check out. We were in a long time of people, but its amazing how having no deadline makes that super unimportant. We took pictures and reminisced and anticipated seeing the kids. When we did get to the desk, we inquired about shuttles and she told us a price we were happy with, and directions.

Bad directions! Haha! I had to laugh. People constantly told us that shuttles were a hassle and took lots of time, but we were feeling very unconcerned with time, and figured we’d go for it. We ended up totally off the strip, around some seedy looking restaurants and grocery stores. There were some shuttle buses there, but none for us. It wouldn’t have mattered, we could have just jumped in with them, but we had pre-purchased tickets, and they weren’t the right ones. I wasn’t too choked, and figured we’d just head back to the correct drop off spot. Apparently we had been directed to the shuttle location for the public rather than for our hotel. The drivers didn’t like that idea though, and tried to make some calls on our behalf. Eventually, one of them just hopped into a second shuttle bus and drove us back to the hotel to the correct location, and got us where we needed to be. We really liked that guy.

We easily got to the airport after that, and I have to say, they have a great system at that airport. You are pretty much always in a long line, but they move quickly and everyone was polite. I feel so flustered with travelling, since I haven’t done much of it, and I know it shows, but no one treated me like I was incapable. They were just clear and polite. I loved that.

We got through security and weren’t even checked with wand metal detector, much less put through that body scanner. Didn’t have to go through that thing once! Everything went really smoothly and we were waiting at our gate with plenty of time. We found some lunch and snacks, and bought some chocolates from a kiosk, and waited patiently until it was time to go.

The flight felt like it would never end. It was smooth, and Brady and I played hangman on his iPad the whole time. I just couldn’t wait to get my hands on those kids!!!

And how sweet was that 🙂 They were happy, and a little hesitant to see us. We got our hugs and kisses, but Dekker was happily playing and I think we got a very little cold shoulder. They’ve become very content with their beautiful Auntie Jerry, and seeing mom and dad was different. But we all visited in the airport for a bit before going to the van. Dekker insisted on pulled my suitcase the entire way!!! What a great helper. We then drove Jerilee home. Lots of hugs for her too. She was an incredibly caregiver and auntie to our kids, and loved them well!

Our drive home was fairly quiet, but it was very normal. We had some quiet music going, Dekker continually pointed out the moon and stars and the lack of semi trucks on the highway. Actually getting into bed was pretty sad but we cannot WAIT for tomorrow!! We (all of us) are in need of a day of normalcy. Movies, pancakes, jammies, you get the drift. Reality will hit again soon enough. But its wonderful to be back! Our house smells amazing, and Jerilee did a bang up job! The dishes are done, and there are cute little notes all over the place. We even got a welcome home sign! We feel SO welcome and sooo at home!

Good to be back 🙂 Now, its time for our aching bodies to rest up in our ginormous bathtub. Sleep well, all!

This was our final full day here in Las Vegas, and after sooo much shopping yesterday, we decided to take it easy today and not do a whole lot. However, as I write this tonight, my feet are positively aching from the amount of walked we did. I can confidently say I’m totally and completely wiped out, but feeling wonderful. My feet are throbbing and swelled, but I got some sun, some exercise, and did a lot of hand holding with my husband. Its been an amazing time of just the two of us. We ADORE our kids and can’t wait to gather them up in our arms tomorrow and kiss them until our lips turn blue, but to run our days without considering nap times or grumpy non-verbal meltdowns has been quite a treat.

Resting our feet on the fountain outside of Caesars Palace

We ducked back into Caesars Palace this morning to check for another thing or two, and from there, instead of going back to our hotel and to the pool, we continued to wander up the road towards Treasure Island. It was that hotel that took all of our money and time. We shopped for hours. Successfully! Its going to be so fun to bring the kids all their cool new clothes and for us to have all of our new fun stuff too. I got some earrings and sweaters, and an awesome pair of ankle boots, while Brady got a new pair of dress pants and new shoes. We visited Lush and a few little accessory shops before indulging in one of my favorite treats that for whatever reason does not exist where I live.

Soft pretzels!!! Sooo salty and buttery, dipped in cheese. With lemonade. Who could possibly want anything else??

After pretzels, we tried to keep going but there was just no hope. My totally comfortable sandals were slowly wearing my skin down and I knew we were towards the end of what I was going to be able to do. So we left. We left Treasure Island anyway.

On our walk back home, we decided to pop into Carlos Bakery one last time for treats. I got a sprinkle cookie and Brady got another lobster tail. Those things are amazing. Just waaay too much for me. So we hauled our bags and treats the rest of the way to our hotel, stopping for a couple of touristy pictures along the way.

Outside the Mirage

Is it just me, or is the top chunk of this hotel pretend???

We got back to our room and lay flat on our faces for about fifteen minutes before deciding to go rest our bodies in the pool. We had kind of missed the sun, which was sad, but cooled us off beautifully. No tan opportunity, but very refreshing, and restful on my feet and Bradys back. We only were in the pool for about a half hour before we decided to go back to our room and think about supper. We opted to eat in our room, but a not-so-fun fact is that our hotel stops room service at 2:00pm!! So Brady ran out to the Haute Doggery and brought us back hot dogs for supper with a bag of chips.

This was probably the first time I wasn’t totally and completely thrilled with my food. They were good hot dogs, but didn’t even hold a candle to Costco, and cost way more. C’est la vie. Its all been wonderful, and hot dogs and chips is wonderful no matter how you look at it. Once we had eaten and had a bit of renewed energy, we decided to end off our stay with one last touristy event.

We walked to the Bellagio, got a good spot in the front, and watched the fountain show. I didn’t let Brady take very many pictures, since I really just wanted us to relax and enjoy the view. It was actually pretty spectacular once you realized the pipes coming out of the water are for fountains, not guns.

I’m not the biggest fan of Celine Dion but the song and the show went well together, even with the sirens wailing the background. It was all very “Vegas” which we thoroughly enjoyed.

On one hand, I wish we didn’t have to leave quite yet. But probably more than that, I’m really happy to be going home soon! We had SO much fun! But its time to play with our babies, sleep in our bed, and cuddle in for a day or two. But seriously, this has been such a fun destination. We didn’t gamble once, and I certainly can’t drink, and we still found lots to keep busy with. It can be done!!

Time for rest, and getting slowly organized for tomorrows departure. Then hopefully a solid sleep before tomorrow begins! Sleep deep, all!

We began today with incredibly greasy yet unbelievably yummy breakfast sandwiches. Bacon and eggs on croissants. They were epic.

We ate them in our room and took our time in the morning. I know that its expected of us (as in people in Vegas) to get out and start walking the strip or shopping or whatever else, but we really love our downtime, so we stay cuddled up most of the morning when given the option. Our room is great, with a comfy bed and American Netflix. Although, wifi is bloody expensive. $14 per day PER DEVICE!! So I’m mildly miffed about that but we’re just biting the bullet to keep the laptop and one cell phone active at all times. Merp merp.

Once we finally dragged our butts out of bed, we snapped them into bathing suits and went on a hunt for the pool. We got tans and relaxed in the loudest pool in the world before finding the MUCH less populated and quieter pool. The “family” pool had way less people, way less music, and way more lounge chairs available. We loved it! But sadly, we were already sort of on the way out. We’re trying to be responsible and eat and drink more than I normally think to. We stayed for a bit but headed back to our room for a bit of a rest and to decide our next move.

We opted for shopping at Caesars Palace, just across the street from us. We were mainly going for a store or two, but very quickly, it was supper time. We personally attacked H&M before we were seated in the Cheesecake Factory. I ate a huge plate of pasta while Brady ate a burger the size of his head. We shared a piece of pumpkin cheesecake before we left, but will likely go back for Snickers and a bit more shopping tomorrow.

Once we were done at Caesars Palace, we went back to our hotel for yet another break for my aching feet. We watched a bit of tv and waited for it to get nice and dark out. Around 8:00, we got up and walked to a ticket booth where we purchased rides on the High Roller. Its basically a Ferris Wheel of enclosed pods. It goes around slowly over the course of a half hour and gives you a pretty great view of the strip. Definitely a touristy move, but we really enjoyed it!

We were all revved up afterwards, but my feet were finished, so we grabbed some salted caramel mocha frapps from Starbucks (unbelievable!) before heading back up to our room.

Are bodies are tired but we are happy and excited to go back out tomorrow and do it all over again! More shopping and swimming to be had by all! Although I realized today that I have no idea how to get home! The elaborate scheme of setting up the trip without Bradys knowledge has left me without the faintest clue of how to get out of here!!! How lame is that?! Thats called “never travelling ever.” I have no boarding passes. I have no information. Beats me! So I’m gonna have to figure that all out tomorrow amongst the touristiness and eating amazing food.

Turns out you really do start looking more and more alike the longer you spend together!!

We’ve had so much fun today! We didn’t get too terribly far, but we did some lounging, some exploring, and TONS of eating! It was unbelievable 🙂 So beware, food pictures to come!

Last night, after we arrived, we were fairly dead to the world but really needed to eat. So we picked up some Johnny Rockets from downstairs and indulged before we absolutely couldn’t stay up any longer. We were sooo exhausted! However, we woke up relatively early, just because our bodies somehow figured they were ready. Not sure why, because we were still tired, but I guess we were supposed to get moving! We didn’t right away, though. We watched some tv and lay around before slowly getting up and getting ready for the day. We finally made it downstairs shortly after 11:00am for brunch. The cafe we visited had already stopped serving breakfast so Brady had a BLT and I had a strawberry tart from the display cooler. We both grabbed a coffee before we wandered around our hotel a bit, got our footings, and then made our way to the strip.

We headed north today, with the goal of eventually hitting the Venetian. We were mostly warned about the people on the street with the nudey cards they pass around. They were definitely some of that, but not even close to as much as I expected. What I found more annoying was the amount of people trying to give us free tickets to shows if we agreed to go tour their hotel for a few hours. No!! Even if I believed there was no other catch, we’re not interested for the time being, the end. And they would get sooo mad!I kind of just laughed and walked away. I’m a random stranger you approached. I don’t have to cooperate with you. Humor.

We did end up finding the Venetian, but getting through it was another thing! We walked all the way through it, got lost a number of times, backtracked, and finally found our way to our goal.

Carlos Bakery!!! No, no one from the show was there, but we still wanted to taste a few of the favorites 🙂

We picked out our two treats and made our way back out onto the strip. By that point, I had a bit of a sore back and we decided we had earned a rest. So we made our way back to our hotel, where we cuddled up and took advantage of US Netflix. We watched some Parks and Recreation, and proceeded to eat our bakery treats in record time.

Thats a lobster tail, and a cannoli. They’re similar ideas, but a cannoli has chocolate chips in it, and I liked the pastry of the lobster tail way more. Both were delicious though.

Eating one at the same time is kind of a challenge though.

Old habits die hard…

I think I can speak for both Brady and I when I say that the highlight of today was likely supper. We went to Outback Steakhouse in an effort to satisfy my steak craving, and my goodness, did we ever eat!

Appetizer. Cheesey fries with bacon, dipped in some spicy ranch-ish sauce.

Sides. Caesar salad and a potato bacon soup loaded with cheese as well.

My steak, covered in mushrooms and lobster. Saucy and flavorful and unbelievable!

Bradys mondo steak, with blue cheese.

We agree that these were the best steaks we’ve ever had in our lives, hands down.

We limped our way back to our hotel and are now plunked down on the bed, hoping our tummies eventually go back to normal. I look like I’m carrying at least three babies. It was a huge food day.

Tomorrow, our plan is to go south on the strip and see where that takes us. And hopefully we’ll do the high roller too! That’ll bring some really great pictures! Or if its stupid hot out (was a bit overcast today) we may just lounge in the pool all day long. We’ll see.

So much for “What happens in Vegas…”